Fuel-intensive events scrapped in 2026 Zambales mango festival

March 14, 2026 | 6:07pm

IBA, Zambales — There will be fewer spectacular shows, but more fun events in this year’s Dinamulag Festival here, as the provincial government canceled motor races and other energy-intensive events in the annual celebration of Zambales’s most famous agricultural product.

Governor Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said the festival committee, which he chairs, has “discarded some activities that will be violative of the Presidential memorandum,” referring to President Marcos’s March 6 memorandum directing government units to strictly adopt energy conservation measures.

“The canceled (events) include motorized races, as well as the float parade,” he added.

The Zambales Tourism and Investment Promotion Office announced an updated festival program last Wednesday with five events scrapped from the original schedule. These are Motocross Challenge and 4x4 Offroad Challenge, both previously set on April 9 and 10; Car Motor and Trike Show on April 9; Zamba-Liwanag Float Parade & Competition, April 9; and the post-parade fireworks display.

The Festival Organizing Committee also compressed the festival schedule from four to three days, starting on April 10 and ending on April 12, in line with the government’s energy conservation push.

The canceled events are among the popular mainstays of the annual mango festival here, with the float parade providing a spectacular display of lighted mobile platforms promoting mango and other agricultural products.

Meanwhile, off-road vehicle racing and dirt bike competitions that were incorporated in the past programs to promote local lahar dune attractions, had attracted sports and adventure enthusiasts to the festival.

Under the revised program, the 2026 Dinamulag Festival will feature a fun run, mango cooking challenge, the 3rd Governor’s Cup Shootfest and Firearms Exhibit, drum and lyre competition, mountain bike race, airsoft competition, mango industry training, talent competitions, and a float design contest, replacing the float competition.

The Festival Organizing Committee has also scheduled mango-centric events to further promote local mangoes. These are the Dinamulag Cooking Vlog Challenge, Zambales Tourism Vlog Challenge, Mango Eating Challenge, and Pinaka-Kamanggahan Contest, which will give away prizes for the sweetest mango fruit, the biggest mango fruit and the mango tree bearing the most fruits.

Pre-festival events have also been scheduled for the Zamba-Tuklas Talento auditions at SM City Olongapo Central on March 14; San Felipe Public Mall on March 21; and Balin Sambali in Iba on March 22.

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